Remy and Ororo sat across the table from each other, an elaborate card game involving two decks, most of the table and intense concentration lay spread out between them.
Conversation was stilted and punctuated with long pauses.
When the game ended they quietly sorted the decks back out.
"Are you okay," Ororo asked softly as Remy started to walk away, giving him the option of pretending not to hear her.
Remy paused. "Yo' came for any t'ing really happened," he said without turning back to face her. "He jus' let a lot of demons out. Took me some time to get dem back where dey belong. T'ought wid m' powers, long as I was careful, I could handle ant'ing. Know dat ain't true now. Do what I can to fix dat, but mostly jus' gotta live wid it."
"Yo' wanted to see me?" Remy asked, standing in the door to the library.
Professor Xavier's gaze lost the distant expression he frequently assumed when using Cerebro as he removed its helmet interface.
"Hello Remy," Xavier said. "I hear you've decided to stay with us?"
"Oui."
"In that case I'd like you to consider enrolling in classes," Xavier suggested cautiously.
"When do I start?" Remy responded without hesitation.
Caught unaware, it took Xavier several moments to respond. "I'll have some placement exams ready for you tomorrow," he said. "We can work out a curriculum from there."
Remy took in Xavier's surprise with a knowing look. "Jus' cause I live on de streets and talk wid an accent, dat don' make me stupid, or unwillin' to learn," he said as he walked away.
Logan tossed Remy a bo staff with an easy flick of his wrist.
"Quoi?" Remy asked turning it over in his hands curiously.
"Normally you should start with hand-to-hand, but I doubt you're up for that and I'm not in the mood to be blown up if you panic."
Remy frowned at Logan's assessment of his stability, but nodded his agreement. "What do I do?" he asked as Logan picked up a second bo staff.
"It's real simple," Logan replied grinning wickedly. "Try to hit me."
Remy watched how Logan held his staff then shifted his own grip to imitate the older man. "Why do I get de feelin' dat be easier said dan done?" he asked.
"I only said you had to try," Logan replied, twirling the staff between his hands. "Not that you had to score. For today I'll even promise to stick to defensive moves."
"Reassurin'," Remy replied, circling Logan warily. "Does dat mean yo' ain't goin' to hit me?"
"Not so long as you remember to look to your own defenses," Logan replied. "Don't want you learning bad habits or getting too complacent."
"You t'ink dat could be an issue?" Remy asked skeptically, fainting forward, trying to get the feel of his weapon.
"With you? Not really," Logan admitted. "Just want you to understand the rules of the game."
"The boss says we're taking Gambit tonight," Scalphunter relayed.
"Why not just wait until he runs again?" Harpooner asked. "Made life real easy last time."
"He ain't gonna run again," Scalphunter exploded. "We had our chance to do it the easy way, we screwed up. Now the lot of you should be real grateful that Sinister let us have the chance to make it up."
"Scrambler screwed it up," Arclight commented snidely.
"Which of us was there with him?" Scalphunter rebuked her before Scrambler could protest. "We get Gambit back tonight or we take his place on the dissection table. You got that?"